Rare iPhone 6 Prototype Listed For Sale, Costs $59,000 [Photos]

Nothing captures the imagination more than a good leak of a prototype Apple device, except perhaps that device finding its way into the public domain. It has happened a handful of times in the past, most notably when an iPhone 4 turned up in a bar before it was announced. One thing you don’t do when you get your hands on something like that is to try and sell it in a public forum, because that inevitably attracts the wrong kind of attention.

So when we saw that a supposed iPhone 6 prototype was listed on eBay, we gave our heads a little shake and checked it out.

Sure enough, the iPhone photographed for the eBay listing does appear to be something other than the finished article. Featuring the kind of pre-release, testing oriented version of iOS that we’ve seen in the past and sans any kind of product markings on the device’s rear, this prototype iPhone 6 even has a telltale red Lightning connector port, which is something of a hallmark of Apple’s. Prototype Apple hardware often features red internals, presumably to make the item immediately distinguishable as something not meant for public consumption.

Of course, that goes for selling stuff on eBay, too.

The phone itself was apparently received in error from US carrier Verizon, with the eBay seller saying that it should have been a 64GB iPhone 6. Instead, they got what looks to be a silver prototype device. We’re not entirely sure about that story because we don’t see why Verizon would have a retail boxed iPhone 6 that’s anything other than the finished article, but strange things do happen. Regardless, the thing’s up for sale right now and has already reached a current high bid of upwards of $59k as of writing. We’d expect the listing to be removed soon enough, though, once Apple gets wind of it.